The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! š
Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'
Cursed: An Anthology of Dark Fairy Tales by Marie O'Regan, Paul Kane
1 review
ghosthermione's review
dark
funny
Ā
I said this before, but Iām not really a fan of short stories. But the concept really appealed to me and I figured why not. The cover also looked nice, not gonna lie. And while I got bored by a few, there were also some great highlights I want to talk about!
Ā
First off, I want to say Kudos to the narrators. The audiobook itself was brilliant, and giving it to multiple people to read different stories really helped with the contrast. Also, amazing voices. Well, there was one that gave a Northern English accent (?) to a ālatinā character (whatever that means, I think they said Mexican and also South American at different points in the same storyā¦) so that was offputting, but everything else sounded great and really helped pull me into the stories.
Now, bear with me as I try to remember the titles, thereās no clear title page (because audiobook) and I have the worst memory for names.
I absolutely loved As red as blood, as white as snow which is essentially Snow White meets Bluebeard. It really does what most fairy tale retellings struggle with, which is redeeming the stepmother (or at least yknow, acknowledging the sexism of that trope. Without putting in more sexism [donāt get me started on Gaimanās Snow Glass Apples, which isnāt in this thankfully]). The two tales worked surprisingly well together and gives the princess some good old agency, which I can never complain about.
On the less dark side, or dark-but-funny side perhaps, I really enjoyed both Fairy Werewolf Vs. Vampire Zombie and Henry and the Snakewood Box. The firstās about some good old paranormal love triangle, with a twist. A few twists, in fact. The second involves a demon whoās giving away wishes to a boy named Henry on the principle that for each positive wish, he (the devil) gets to do a butterfly-creates-hurricane level of evil with the power unleashed. It does not turn out how he plannedā¦ The tone of these two were really what I loved. The fairy pub owner in the first, with her Southern drawl and Iāve seen everything attitude, and the extra conceited demon in the second, who was so proud of himself for having found a human easy enough to abuseā¦ these were definitely made even better by the narrator.
Other highlights I think were the ones going with Old World vibes, like Listen, a twist on the pied piper, cursed by an old god(?) to bring back shadows of the dead with her music so they tell their truths. The Merrie Dancers also had that similar eerie vibe about the fae.
Then there was the fascinating ones I donāt know what to think about. Haza and Ghani was fascinating, if perhaps a bit long. I had the impression of a much older narrator, though by the end I was not sure. This little girl who follows her brother to the temple and becomes a kitchen help to stick around and help, and her jaded older self telling us about it, it was really fascinating, but I did also find that I was losing focus in the middle. A bit of a āget to the pointā feeling about it!
Then thereās Look Inside and I loved the concept and again the ties to the old world but Iām reaaaally uneasy about the ending.
Skin was horrible and terrifying in a kind of satisfying way (very gory, mind you) but the whole idea that this woman (accidentally) put a curse on this horrible man who essentially got mad at her for her skin condition, and she has to soothe his feelings, and cajole him, and essentially agree that she is bad for having cursed him? Iām not comfortable with that. It feels like it lacks some awareness of the real world, letās say. Which is ironic for fairy tales but it did not hit the mark for me. [deleted rant about fairy tale morality and what itās supposed to teach and how to subvert them]
New Wine was fascinating also, and I really liked it actually, but itās alsoā¦ like itās got that feeling of āoh no this is too much like the real worldā that makes me shudder inside and not know what to think about it. In a good way, I think?
Then thereās Look Inside and I loved the concept and again the ties to the old world but Iām reaaaally uneasy about the ending.
Skin was horrible and terrifying in a kind of satisfying way (very gory, mind you) but the whole idea that this woman (accidentally) put a curse on this horrible man who essentially got mad at her for her skin condition, and she has to soothe his feelings, and cajole him, and essentially agree that she is bad for having cursed him? Iām not comfortable with that. It feels like it lacks some awareness of the real world, letās say. Which is ironic for fairy tales but it did not hit the mark for me. [deleted rant about fairy tale morality and what itās supposed to teach and how to subvert them]
New Wine was fascinating also, and I really liked it actually, but itās alsoā¦ like itās got that feeling of āoh no this is too much like the real worldā that makes me shudder inside and not know what to think about it. In a good way, I think?
Some were unmemorable, or the ending was just a bit flat for me. I did not particularly like Troll Bridge by Gaiman, I mean it was ok but there were stronger stories. Wendy Darling was an interesting twist but it did not pack the punch I think it was supposed to. Others were justā¦ eh, like Black Fairyās Curse, I really didnāt see the point, or Little Red (major self-harm trigger warnings here) because I guess we all love stories in asylums (not), or Faith and Fred which againā¦ not convinced.
One thing Iād say overall is that except for the Fairy Werewolf/Vampire Zombie and for Haza and Ghani, this was very English. British if Iām being generous. It was fun in some ways, as in I know those places, and it makes for more Old World kinds of stories but Iād have loved more diversity thatās not āthis guy from the Southern hemisphere in a London tenement flat does voodoo maybeā (Hated), you know?
So overall some of the stories were brilliant, and Iād give them 4-5 stars, and most of them were ok-to-good, and a few were just uuuurgh. Which is par for the course for an anthology, I suppose. But as anthologies go, I think I quite liked this one on average.Ā
Graphic: Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Child death, and Suicide
Moderate: Murder
Skin has graphic details of self harm and body horror Little Red (?) has self harm and forced institutionalization Wendy Darling has child death and suicide Look Inside is about a pretty creepy home invasion
More...